“I have been making this recipe for 3 years now, and it never fails to be the best beef stew I have ever cooked or tasted! Thanks for sharing this recipe.”

Sandy

Crockpot beef stew, in its most basic form, is really simple. It’s just chunky pieces of beef, vegetables, broth, and some herbs and spices, all cooked down until it forms a delicious, cozy gravy. But I took this recipe up a few notches with some extra special ingredients that add more umami and flavor to the stew gravy. The ingredient list may look long, but I promise it’s worth it.

Ingredients for the Most Incredible Crockpot Beef Stew:

• Beef Stew Meat: Usually cubed chuck steak, which is a tougher cut that becomes extremely tender when cooked low and slow in a crockpot.
• All-Purpose Flour: Lightly coating the stew meat in flour and searing it increases the flavor and helps thicken the gravy.
• Vegetables: I use a hearty mix of carrots, onions, celery, and potatoes for natural flavor and thickness.
• Beef Broth: Acts as the gravy base; better to use a broth with great flavor. I prefer Better Than Bouillon.
• Seasonings: I combined garlic, Dijon, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, brown sugar, rosemary, and thyme for a rich, layered flavor.

What Else Can I Add?

This stew is pretty lush as is, but consider adding mushrooms for extra vegetable goodness or red wine for enhanced flavor.

How to Thicken Beef Stew

You can allow the stew to thicken naturally as the vegetables break down, or add them in the last hour of cooking with a cornstarch slurry for desired thickness.

1. Sear the meat first: Browning the beef enhances flavor.
2. Add extra umami: Worcestershire and soy sauce boost the meatiness in flavor.
3. Don’t rush it: Cook the stew meat low and slow.
4. Don’t skip the veggies: They add texture and flavor to the stew.

Serving Suggestions

This stew is complete as is, but be sure to have some bread, creamy polenta, or rice on the side to soak up that gravy. You can also pair it with some steamed green beans or roasted vegetables.

Prepare the vegetables for the stew: dice red potatoes and onion, slice carrots and celery, and mince garlic.

Place all the chopped vegetables in a slow cooker.

Coat the stew meat with flour, salt, and pepper in a bowl.

Sear the meat in a hot skillet with oil until browned, then transfer to the slow cooker.

Add broth and seasonings to the skillet, then scrape the browned bits from the bottom.

Pour the broth mixture over the ingredients in the slow cooker.

Cover the slow cooker and cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours.

The stew should look like this when it’s done cooking.

Stir the stew to help thicken the gravy with the potatoes.

Enjoy your slow cooker beef stew as is or over rice!